UN Security Council approves new resolution on DPRK

It reiterates the council's support for the previous commitments by the six-party talks, including pushing forward with the goal of the verifiable denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula in a peaceful manner, and promoting economic cooperation among the six parties.

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on Wednesday welcomed the Security Council's move, saying the DPRK "must return to full compliance with its international obligations."

"This firm response by the Security Council should put an end to the cycle of provocation and lead to the resumption of dialogue in accordance with the unified view of the international community," Ban said in a statement.

Stressing that sanctions are not an end in itself, Liu Jieyi, China's permanent representative to the UN, said the resolution itself cannot offer a fundamental solution to the nuclear issue of Korean Peninsula, and dialogue is the only viable way to resolve the issue.

"Today's resolution should be a new starting point and a paving stone for the political settlement of the nuclear issue on the Korean Peninsula," said Liu, urging Pyongyang to rejoin the six-party talks which have been stalled since 2008.

Meanwhile, Liu voiced concerns about the possible deployment of Lockheed Martin's Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) system, an advanced U.S. missile defense system, on the Korean Peninsula.

"China opposes the deployment of the THAAD anti-missile system on the Korean Peninsula because such an action harms the strategic security interests of China and other countries of the region, goes against the goal of maintaining peace security and stability of the peninsula, and would seriously undermine the efforts of the international community to see the political solution to the question of the Korean Peninsula," he said.

Vitaly Churkin, Russian permanent representative to the UN, also stressed that the newly-passed sanctions, though quite tough, are not an end in themselves, but rather just a way to ensure that all parties involved return to the negotiating table.

"The United Nations Security Council resolution on DPRK leaves Pyongyang with an option to return to the six-party talks, which should be resumed as soon as possible," he said.

Shortly after the adoption of the document, US President Barack Obama welcomed the UN resolution, calling it "a firm, united, and appropriate response by the international community" to halt DPRK's nuclear and missile programs.

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, during his recent visit to Washington, put forward a proposal of pursuing parallel tracks on the nuclear issue on the Korean peninsula: the denuclearization and the replacement of the Korean armistice with a peace agreement.

Then in a phone call with his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov on Wednesday after the adoption of the resolution, Wang stressed that a return to dialogue and negotiation is needed to ultimately resolve the nuclear issue on the Korean Peninsula.

The sanctions in Wednesday's resolution represent the fifth round of sanctions imposed against the DPRK since 2006. The sanctions, which is widely believed to be tougher than ever, do not target DPRK people's daily life.

The DPRK conducted three nuclear tests in 2006, 2009 and 2013, respectively. Right after Pyongyang's first nuclear test, the UN Security Council adopted a resolution to impose sanctions on the DPRK and set up a sanctions committee.

In response to the nuclear tests conducted by the DPRK in 2009 and 2013, the council adopted another three resolutions to strengthen various sanctions on the DPRK, which included an arms embargo, an embargo related to nuclear, ballistic missile, and a ban on the export of luxury goods.